Congress shoe



(No Model.) w

E. D. FRISWELL.

GONGRESS SHOE. V

Patented June 9, 1896.

'NVENTOR WITNESSES ANDREW E GRANAMPHOTO UMQWASHINGWN. DC.

UNITED STATES PATENT @rrrcn.

EDWARD D. FRISXVELL, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

CONGRESS SHOE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 561,706, dated June 9, 1896. Application filed March 6,1896. Serial in. 582,038. on man To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD D. FRIsWELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the class of shoes commonly known as Congress shoesthat is, shoes provided with elastic gores, which are the only means of retaining the shoe in place upon the foot. Shoes of this class fit neatly and present an attractive appearance. They are, however, subject to the objections that there is no way of relieving the pressure upon the ankle when the shoe is worn indoors and that the great stretch necessarily given to the elastic gores in putting on and removing the shoe frequently stretches the elastic gores out of shape, so that the fit of the shoe is seriously impaired. In order to overcome these objections and produce a shoe which may be even more readily put on or removed than the ordinary Congress shoe without overstretchin g the elastic,which shall be thoroughly durable, and which may be loosened at the ankle, so as to produce, approximately, the effect of a slipper, while at the same time the shoe will be held in place on the foot, I have devised the novel shoe of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, numbers being used to designate the several parts.

Figures 1 and :2 are elevations of my novel shoe, showing two modes in which the shoe is fastened; Fig. 3, a similar view showing another mode of fastening, the parts being in the unfastencd position; and Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view on the line a;

1 denotes the front piece; 2, the back piece; 3, the outer elastic gore; 4, the inner elastic gore; 5, a supplemental elastic gore, and 6 the vamp.

By the term outer elastic gore I mean the gore upon the outer side of the shoe, and by the term inner elastic gore I mean the elastic gore upon the inner side of the shoe.

The novelfeatures of my invention are that the inner elastic gore is detached from the back piece and the front lower edge of the back piece is detached from the vamp on the inner side of the shoe, so that the free edge of the back forms a tongue, which I have specifically indicated by 7, a point of attachment of the back piece to the vamp being indicated at 16. In the fastened position the free edge of the back piecei. e. the tongue passes under the free edge of the inner elastic gore, as clearly. shown in the drawings.

At the free edge of the inner elastic gore I preferably place, to insure durability, a facing-strip 8. The supplemental elastic gore is preferably made triangular in shape, the upper edge. being a selvage edge and lying obliquely to the horizontal plane, the front edge being attached to the facing-strip and the lower edge to the vamp of the shoe.

In Fig. 1, as a means for fastening the shoe, I have shown the facing-strip at the free edge of the inner elastic gore as provided with eyelets 9 and the free edge of the back piece as provided with ordinary lever-fasteners 10, which pass through the eyelets and are turned down against the holding-plates 11, to which they are attached.

In Fig. 2 I have shown the facing-strip and the back piece as provided with lacing-hooks 12 and the shoe as fastened by a cord 13 engaging said hooks, and in Fig. 3 I have shown the facing strip as provided with buttonholes 14 and the back piece as provided with buttons 15. (Shown only in dotted lines.)

It will of course be understood that the mode of fastening the shoe is not of the essence of my invention, it being simply necessary to provide a means of fastening which may be readily unfastened so as to permit the wearer to getperfect comfort when it is not desired to have the shoe fit the foot and ankle closely, but which may be as readily fastened when it is desired to have the shoe fit closely. It is an important feature of myiniproved con struction that the fastening is placed back of the ankle on the inner side of the shoe, thus being wholly out of the way and at the portion of the shoe best adapted to be opened and-t0 carry the fastening devices, there being a natural depression back of the ankle, at

gore assists in holding the shoe in place when the fastenings are detached, giving, in fact, to

the shoe the grip of an ordinary low-cut shoe. The supplemental gore is moreover placed so low down that it does not require to be stretched very much in putting on or taking ofi the shoe, but will, however, hold the shoe firmly at the ankle when fastened in any ordinary or preferred manner.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim 1. A Congress shoe having the usual inner and outer elastic gores, the inner elastic being detached from the back piece and the front lower edge of the back piece detached from the vamp so as to form a tongue and means for fastening the free edge of the inner elastic gore to the tongue.

2. A Congress shoe having the usual inner and outer elastic gores, the inner elastic gore being detached from the back piece and provided with a facing-strip 8 and the front lower edge of the back piece detached from the vamp so as to form a tongue and means for fastening the facing-strip on the inner elastic gore to the tongue.

3. A Congress shoe having the usual inner and outer elastic gores, the inner elastic gore being wholly detached from the back piece and the front lower edge of the back piece detached from the vamp and a supplemental elastic gore the upper edge of which is a selvage, the front edge of which is attached to the inner elastic gore and the lower edge attached to the vamp and means for fastening the inner elastic gore to the back piece.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWVARD D. FRISWELL.

lVitnesses:

A. M. WoosTER, S. V. RICHARDSON. 

